bits and pieces.....

Canoes.I now use an Ally folding canoe for all my trips. I can't rate them highly enough. The 18 foot model weighs only 21 kilos but has a huge carrying capacity, and the ease of transporting them around the world far outweighs any neglible disadvantage in handling when compared with a rigid alternative. Also they are very forgiving when you hit that unseen rock. They flex and bend over it rather than stop dead and flip.http://www.allycanoes.com

Paddles.Paddles come in all shapes, but I'm most concerned that mine are light, very tough, and can break into 2 sections for transportation. My Ainsworth C100 with alloy shaft has served me well on countless trips.http://www.ainsworthpaddles.net

The Royal Geographical Society.If you live in Britain, one place to go for advice and information is the RGS. The walls of its headquarters in Kensington are covered in portraits of all the great and heroic figures of exploration, and it feels like hallowed ground to anyone with a love of the subject. However it's not at all intimidating to approach with your questions. http://www.rgs.org

A TRAVELLER'S TALES.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to add some new travel anecdotes to these pages. A new one every two weeks or so.

They recount experiences from my expeditions and travels. I hope you enjoy them. Let me know.

Here are the first two: -

1. MALARIA IN BRISTOL

You hear of people dying of malaria in Britain, weeks after they return from the tropics. Sometimes the patient doesn't tell the medical staff where he or she has been, because It takes a while for the disease to show itself, by which time the tropical holiday seems a distant memory.

Doctors will normally send off blood for analysis if they are told about your travels, but not always unless you pressure them to do so. Also in the early stages malaria imitates flu or other fevers, and the patient can delay getting to a doctor. But malaria debilitates you really fast, and serious complications come within days.

Anyway, here's a tale of a malarial recurrence in the UK, where some medical staff were particularly incompetent!

2. THE WIDOW.

I've always loved hitch-hiking. I've done it from London to Cape Town, Tierra del Fuego to Canada and around most of Europe. It's a social act of mutual trust, and I've received extraordinary kindness and generosity. I've met interesting people who've confided their tragedies, loneliness, dreams and experiences as the miles tick by. I've also encountered a few loonies, but perhaps they felt the same?

There were some bad experiences too. I had a pistol pulled on me. One guy was extremely aggressive and my attempt to get out was thwarted by an absence of door handles. Too many drivers were drunk or doped to the eyeballs, or drove suicidally. One guy was intending to commit suicide that very day, and it looked as if he was going to take me with him.

Anyway, one or two of those stories will appear in this collection later.

But here's a sad, sweet, even happy-in-a-way, sort of tale.

3. RIDING THE RAILS

Who hasn't felt like hopping on a freight train in North America? Become a hobo for a few days and emulate Jack London, Woody Guthrie, Kerouac or Boxcar Willy? That scenery, the huge distances, the mournful whistle blowing.......